Recorded in Ireland in the spellings of Murname, Marnane, Mournian, and Marinane, and in some cases it is claimed deriving from a pre 10th century Gaelic word 'mananan', and in other cases from the Norman French 12th century surname Mannering or Mainwaring, this is a very confusing surname, with many overlaps. If Gaelic it means 'The descendant of the son of the sea god', if Norman French it originates from a now 'lost' village in Normandy called 'Mesnil Warin' or the manor of Warin. The latter is a a Germanic name of the pre 5th century meaning 'guard'. The surname as Mainwaring has been prominent in the history of England since the Norman Invasion of 1066. In a sense this is the same in Ireland, many members of the original family Norman family having 'gaelicized' their spelling to the forms shown above, and indeed it is possible that O' Mannarain' itself is a reference to the fact that the original members arrived by sea. Examples of the surname recording taken from the few early surviving church registers of Ireland that were not burnt by the IRA in the deliberate fire at the Public Records Office, Dublin, in 1922, includes: John Mournian of Killarney, County Kerry, on June 1st 1809. Slightly earlier Judith Marnane married Michael Foley at Tipperary, on March 16th 1809, and Julia Mainane married Gerald Fleming at Killarney, on February 19th 1811.

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